Improved blind-slat



tbrtml States' aient it,

BALL & CC.

Letters Patent No.'100,118, dated February 22, 1870.

IMPROVED BLIND-SLAT.

The Schedule referred to in these Letters Patent and making pari'. of the sameh To all whom it 'may concern Be it known llmt I, MILTON W. CLARK, of the city and county ot Worcester, and State ot Massachu` setts, have iliade a new and useful Improvement in Revolving Blind'Slats, and I do hereby declare that the following is a Jll, clear, and exact description of the construction of 1 he same, reference being had to the annexed drawings making a part of this specification, in which- Figure I is a side view ofthe slat, and

Figure II is an end view of the same.

The same letters in each figure denote thesame parts.

My improvement consists in making the shoulder c of the tenon a. with an otfset, c', cut down within a proper distance of the tenon a, so thatonly a small part, c, of the end of the slat A will rub upon the stile of the blind when the slat revolves. By this` means there is not only less friction between the hlind-slat and the stile, but another objectionable feature is removed, for in painting thc blinds the paint is apt to gather between the stile and the ends of ordinary slats, thus binding the latter and rendering it impossible to open or close them without great difficulty; indeed in the eort to move them the wire by which they are connected is oftentimes broken and otherwise injured.

In conclusion I would remark that I am aware that the ends ofthe blind-slats have heretofore heen rounded ofi' for the purpose of preventing them from binding against the stile. Slats made in such form have their tenons cnt by a hollow angle or cutter, which forms the tenons and bevels off the ends of the slat. But

this operation is attended with many disadvantages, for the wood of which the slat is formed is apt `to be split or broken oi` by the auger; and the slat when completed is a diiferent article from that-which is the subject of my application, for it has no offset at all,

and its rounded or beveled ends not only detract iom the appearance of the blind, but leave a considerable space between them and the blind-Slat. Myimproved slat has none of these defects. The ends are not beveled or rounded or cut away, buta small offset is cnt in the shoulder of each tenon, which,`while it allows the ends of thc blind to be straight, as hereto- 'fore, keeps them from binding against the stile, and

prevents the paint which gathers on the ends from impeding the working ofthe slats. The tbrmation of this offset has not been practicable heretofore, and itis only since the employment of my improved blindslat cutter, for which Letters Patent of't-he United States have been recently granted me, that a Slat formed as herein shown has been made.

The cutter is arranged and constructed, as will be seen hy reference to the patent referred to, so as to cnt bot-h the square oti'set and the tenon at one operation, and to prevent the Slivering of the wood, which has constituted one of the drawbacks to the use ot' other cutters.y

The tol-mation of the square offset and the prevention of the splitting of the wood have not been effected before; and it is these two points, more' especially the tiret, that distinguish from all others the slat which constitutes t-he subject of my present patent.

Thatwvliich I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

As a new article of manufacture, a revolving blindslyat, provided with a square offset, c', formed in the shoulder of each tenon a, in the manner and for the purposes herein shown and set forth.

MILTON L CLARK.

NVitnesse's:l

H. THOMPSON, FRANK J PLUMMER. 

